A timeless Pakistan

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A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Saeed Anwar

Easily the best Pakistani opener in the last 25 years. Wristy, elegant and destructive, he was almost impossible to stop once he got going. India were one of the worst affected by the left-hander, his best of 194 (which was the highest individual score in ODIs for a very long time) coming against the arch-rivals in Chennai in 1997

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Aamer Sohail

It's a close call between Aamer Sohail and Rameez Raja. While Rameez was the more pedigreed batsman, Sohail was a street-fighter who could chip in a few overs with the ball as well. He was also a very good foil to Anwar and they formed one of the best opening partnerships in ODIs for Pakistan

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Javed Miandad

A player who can walk into any ODI World XI. He could play according to the situation, shift gears any moment, kept looking for the singles and the spinners almost found him impossible to contain in the middle-overs. He could also play the sheet-anchor's role and could be destructive in the end overs. The Indian fans still haven't forgotten that last-ball six he hit against India in the Australasia Cup final in Sharjah off Chetan Sharma.

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Inzamam-ul Haq

Another player with tremendous flair. He was never very athletic on the field and had a penchant for getting run-out, but when he was on song with the bat, there was just no stopping this burly Multani. He first emerged to the scene with a breathtaking match-winning innings against New Zealand in the 1992 World Cup semifinal and was always a feared batsman for the next 15 years of his international career

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Salim Malik

Possibly the best finisher for Pakistan ever. Coming in to bat around the 30th over, he never got bogged down and the big shots seemed to flow from his bat out of nowhere. India first got a taste of the Malik magic in the February of 1987 at the Eden Gardens, when he pulled off a miracle win at the Eden Gardens with his team needing close to 70 off five overs. Through the next decade, he was one of the key players in the team's domination against India

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Imran Khan:

The finest allrounder and the leader coming out of Pakistan. Was a match-winner both with the bat and the ball and held the team together, despite his constant bickering with Miandad for more than a decade. Made Pakistan one of the superpowers of world cricket in the 1980s and the icing on the cake was leading them to the 1992 World Cup victory, where he played more as a batsman.

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Moin Khan:

May not be the most talented wicketkeeper-batsman coming out of Pakistan, but then again, it was his ability to hold things lower down the order that keeps him ahead of Rashid Latif and Wasim Bari in an all-time Pak ODI XI. Moin was a street-smart cricketer and he too, had the ability to bring out the big shot out of nowhere and was a constant inspiration for the bowlers from behind the stumps, chipping in with his advice.

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Shahid Afridi:

There will be raised eyebrows regarding his selection, especially when artists like Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed are being left out at his expense. But Afridi, in recent times, has shaped up as one of the best ODI spinners, always on the spot with his faster ones (in the Kumble mould). He is also an outstanding fielder and still holds the record for the fastest ODI century. He is a compulsive basher and most of his batting heroics have come opening for Pakistan.

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Wasim Akram

The artist with the ball, possibly the best left-arm pacer ever to have played the game. Could make the ball talk on any surface. Sourav Ganguly once said that Akram has the ability to bowl six different balls in the same over. He had a lethal yorker, but then again could use the shoulder and get the ball to bounce off a length from a shortened run-up. The batsmen were always kept guessing and he was almost impossible to hit, while there were the occasional magic balls that got the crucial wickets (ask Alan Lamb and Chris Lewis about their experience in the 1992 World Cup final).

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Waqar Younis:

The master of reverse swing. He was superfast through the air and his toe-crushers in the slog overs made him a great asset for Pakistan. There was always a rivalry between him and Akram and often the two were competing with each other, trying to grab more wickets That made life hell for the opposition batsmen.

A timeless Pakistan

January 12, 2013

Saqlain Mushtaq:

Another artist with the ball. He was the first to bowl the doosra (teh off-spinner's googly) which went the other way after pitching with hardly any change in action. Earlier, spinners were seen as middle-over options, but Saqlain's wickettaking abilities made Wasim Akram use him in the slog overs and the offie was a great success as the lowerorder batsmen found it impossible to understand which way the ball would turn.